The story so far
The story so far we moved here almost 9 years ago, the house was in need of refurbishment and the garden was an overgrown wilderness, employed as a school maintenance manager and a practising organic gardener using skills that would be put to good use. We started on the house using the best materials we could afford however Eco products are expensive and compromises had to be made. Oak windows and a ground source heating system were 5 times the cost of a gas heating system and PVC windows which we eventually installed. The plan introduced environmentally friendly products as funding became available whilst at the same time using as many recycled/reused materials as possible, this approach has been successful.The term sustainable is quoted without true understanding; our philosophy is to reuse an unsustainable product before using a sustainable new product with all of the material and energy required in its production and transport? The methods of food growing may have been organic and the reuse of materials was good practice however, the design elements lacked direction. In 2004, I read a permaculture magazine many of its concepts and methods resonated with the way I worked using methods in both house and garden, expanding my thinking and leading me to a Permaculture Design Course. The resources required to refurbish the house were underestimated not only in funding but man hours, the garden progressed when funds were low. Access to recycled materials however have been very productive, it’s often cheaper to give even new materials away then to pay labor and transport costs to dispose of them, on occasions saving materials from land fill, there are many examples in both the house and garden.
House
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Garden
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